West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $344.00.

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after buying an additional 676,167 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after buying an additional 563,705 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $357,238,000 after buying an additional 494,828 shares during the period. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $145,379,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.3 %

WST stock opened at $220.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $400.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $311.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $309.75. The stock has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.